It feels like it was just last week when Disney was showing off their big guns by acquiring Marvel Entertainment and making giant casting announcements during their D23 celebration. (Okay, so it was last month, not last week – how time flies, right?) Now, though, a tide is beginning to change, as it's been announced that Disney chairman Dick Cook has left the company after 38 years of service.
You may not be too familiar with Cook, but know that he was very well liked by lots of folks – and, on some projects, he was kinda like the glue holding it all together. Steven Spielberg brought his DreamWorks over to Disney because of his close relationship with Cook, and Johnny Depp remained on the rocky Pirates of the Caribbean ship because of Cook's convincing.
Obviously at this point you're probably wondering the following: Now that Cook is gone, does that mean Depp will jump, er, ship – just as a fourth Pirates installment was announced with Captain Jack returning? Well, according to the Los Angeles Times (and Depp himself), the situation is … ummm … unstable, to say the least. "There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment," Depp said. It was all born in [Cook's] office."
Yes, there is still a deal in place for Depp to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow for the recently announced Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, though Depp claims his participation depends solely on the finished script. With Pirates 4 and The Lone Ranger on the horizon for Disney and Depp, one imagines the Mouse House Crew will do all they can do keep Depp happy so that he fulfills his commitment (and subsequently helps bring in big box office) on both movies.
Should they even make another Pirates of the Caribbean movie without Johnny Depp?
